In their basement den, Yuki and Yamato hadn’t taken their eyes off the screen for over an hour. They’d stared intently as the pulsing red dot wound through the streets of Asakusa. Then suddenly it had disappeared. They’d stared at the screen as if by willpower alone they could bring the dot back to life.

‘Where did it go?’ Yamato groaned. He’d leaned forward, his nose almost touching the monitor.

Yuki had anxiously phoned the technician who’d set up the display.

‘Mmm, I thought this could happen. That tracker has always been faulty,’ the man had said.

‘Does Hatsuko know this?’ Yuki asked.

The man sniffed loudly. ‘No. This technology hasn’t been tested for years and I forgot it was even there. She’d forgotten too until you mentioned the necklace. I fitted it years ago to keep track of the girl and make sure that she was safe. But now we know better . . . I’ll come by when I’m finished with the car.’ And with that he’d hung up, leaving Yuki and Yamato staring at the blank screen.

The blip had sprung back to life a while later. It was now a long way from Asakusa. The men were surprised to see it heading towards them and wondered if Kiko had changed her mind about running away.

The two of them were concentrating so intently they didn’t hear Hatsuko enter the room.

‘What do you see?’ she demanded, leaning in between them.

The two men almost leapt through the roof.

‘Sumimasen,’ they said as they composed themselves.

‘Kiko has travelled this afternoon. She is not far from here,’ said the taller man, Yuki, as he pointed at the dot on the screen.

He had his other hand on his lap, crossing his fingers that the blip stayed alive while Hatsuko was present.

‘I see,’ she said, peering closer. ‘So why hasn’t one of you gone to find her?’

‘You told us not to,’ Yuki gulped.

Hatsuko glared at the men and shook her head. ‘That was when she was miles away. She is too close to home now.’

Yamato looked at his partner. ‘I will go,’ he said, without moving from his seat.

‘Well, what are you waiting for?’ Hatsuko growled.

Yamato made a dash for the door.

‘Remember, I don’t want her back – under any circumstances!’ Hatsuko shouted. She paced to the other side of the room. ‘Especially not now that my destiny is finally within reach,’ she whispered under her breath.

 

Yamato cursed the traffic as he turned into the street opposite Harajuku railway station. He parked the car and fed the meter, then whispered harshly into the speaker on his wrist. ‘Where is she now?’

Yuki stared at the screen. The blip was making its way along the street that Yamato said he was standing on. ‘She should be close to you.’

Yamato looked around. All he could see were girls dressed in wacky costumes that would have looked more at home in Disneyland than on the streets of Tokyo. He scanned the other side of the street. ‘I’m outside the crêperie. Which way?’

‘She should be heading towards you from the direction of the station,’ Yuki replied.

‘She’s not here. Unless she’s taken to dressing as one of the Harajuku girls – and where would she have got the money for that?’

He turned around slowly. Among the throng was a group of Western tourists. Three were young girls, who were talking loudly. As they passed by, there was a loud crackle of static and Yamato’s eardrum almost exploded. He leapt into the air and the tallest of the children, a blonde girl, laughed out loud.

A smaller child with long chocolate curls smiled at Yamato and darted around him.

‘Sumimasen,’ she said with a smile.

Yamato stared at her and Yuki’s voice buzzed in his ear. ‘Are you still outside the crêperie?’

Yamato rubbed his ear and shouted ‘Yes’ into his sleeve.

‘Then she should be right next to you,’ said Yuki. He wished he’d gone instead. Sometimes he wondered how his partner had acquired his position.

Yamato looked up and down the street. He peered through the shop window at the diners. There was no sign of her. The tracking device must be faulty – perhaps it was giving signals in the wrong locations now too, as well as switching off intermittently.

‘She is not here,’ he whispered savagely.